Luganda Language Report

UCSD LIGN 108 Languages of Africa

Date

March 2009

Summary

In my Languages of Africa (LIGN 108) course, I conducted a thorough interview and survey of Luganda, the language of the African country Uganda. My compiled report describes the structure of the language from individual sounds to sentence syntax.

Problem

For this assignment, we were required to research an African language via scientific literature. We were also required to interview a speaker of the language to compare their use of the language with what we learned via literature.

I chose Luganda as my language to study because I had a connection to a Luganda speaker in San Diego.

Process

I began by reading about the language via a book in the UCSD library, which I was fortunate to find.

Later, I met with my Ugandan contact, a woman originally from the capital city of Kampala. During out session, I asked her about the culture of her language, as well questions about what she believed the structure of the language to be. Primarily, I asked her to translate English words and phrases into Luganda. My list of words and phrases was specifically designed to capture the unique structure of the language.

Sample of my notes from my elicitation session, where I gathered information about pronunciation, conjugation, and vocabulary.

Results

Through the process, I gained valuable experience of conducting user research. I was able to learn a lot about the language, including the fundamental sounds, the morphology of words, and the syntax and tenses of sentences. I compiled my results into a comprehensive report.

A sample of compiled results, showing noun behavior.
Another sample of compiled results, showing verb behavior.
An excerpt from the accompanying report about the language's use in society.